SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won proposed the introduction of "one agent per person" and called on executives and employees to act swiftly to accelerate the group's artificial intelligence transformation (AX).
Chey made the remarks at the "2026 New Icheon Forum," held under the theme "Disruptive Innovation AI Will Bring: A Major Shift Toward AX-Centered Management" at the SKMS Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, from Nov. 11 to 13. "This is the time to embark on AI transformation in all 360 directions and at full speed," he said.
As the first step in AX, Chey said, "Knowing exactly what we are doing comes first," adding, "What matters is precisely defining our work and determining what to innovate and how through AI." He explained that the group must build a foundation that allows it to identify and improve problems in real time while steadily accumulating data on a regular basis.
In particular, Chey presented the introduction of one agent per person, saying, "We must evolve from 'my AI' to 'our AI.'" He stressed, "Beyond AI used personally, we need AI that connects what we do into the performance of the entire organization and truly helps with 'our work.' I, too, will create not just one agent but countless agents to communicate together with the executives and employees of each company."
AI agents refer to personalized AI assistants specialized for work, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude. The plan is to have all executives and employees use their own AI agents to enhance work innovation and accelerate AX. Chey himself added, "I will have dozens of chairman avatars enter each company to listen, work, and communicate together with other agents."
Chey defined the essence of AX as "operational improvement (O/I)." He said, "Since the power to break through countless challenges and respond to future opportunities ultimately comes from O/I capabilities, we must solidify our fundamentals and execution through O/I based on AX."
Chey then assessed SK Group's competitiveness while forecasting the global AI industry. "Few companies possess a 'full stack' ranging from the memory needed in the AI era to data center infrastructure, and the energy and electrification capabilities to support it," he said. "SK's business areas have what is needed to open the AI era."
Even so, he urged executives to maintain a thorough sense of crisis. "If we do not execute all-encompassing AX at full speed now, the golden opportunity we have encountered will not easily come again," Chey said.
SK Group has discussed competitiveness-strengthening measures with AI as a key agenda item at the Icheon Forum since 2019, but this was the first time it held intensive discussions on the single topic of AI over three days. At this forum, the performance of virtual panel agents using AI stood out. An AI agent named "Sky" summarized and presented executives' discussions in real time. The panel discussion featured an AI panel composed of consultants, executives, and employees in their 50s, participating in real time alongside frontline employees.
An SK Group official said, "This forum was a meaningful occasion that established the group's AX direction by bringing together the executives' strategic vision and the voluntary execution will of company-wide employees," adding, "Based on the discussions, executives and employees will work together to accelerate the AI transformation."
